Category: Around DW

Scholastic Bowl

By: Dhruv

 

   Scholastic bowl (1953 – current), also known as quizbowl, scholar bowl, academic bowl, academic team, and more is a quiz-based competition that tests players on a wide variety of academic subjects. To get in scholastic bowl, you have to tryout and get selected by the team’s coach to get in, as there are scholastic bowl teams in each school. Scholastic bowl is for high school, middle school, and elementary school students. Knowledgeable students can get on a scholastic bowl team. Participants study a variety of different topics at home and in school with their team so they can do well in competitions. To study for meets, a student in scholastic bowl, Kevin, says, “We need to study different topics to know any question they ask”.

In competitions, there are about 2-10 players, and 2 teams from different schools compete against each other. Each meet is like a game of jeopardy. Participants read questions and try to score points for their team by buzzing first and responding with the correct answer. Each question has a 30 second time limit. The materials needed for competitions are a variety of different questions of many topics and buzzers so that the students can buzz in once they know the answer to the question. Bonus questions usually have multiple parts that are related by some common thread and may or may not be related to corresponding tossup.

When I also asked Kevin why he likes Scholastic Bowl, he said, “I like that we get to work by ourselves and together”. Scholastic Bowl also requires lots of teamwork. Teamwork is sometimes part of it because during bonuses you have to work together. For example, during math bonuses, instead of everyone trying to solve all of the problems, you assign one problem to everyone so that it is easier. Also, during other types, you may all know a different answer, so you have to all talk before the 30 seconds are up. Root for your fellow Daniel Wright scholastic bowl students to help them win their meets!

Spring

By Ashlyn

Spring is a fresh new start. I like to walk outside, and see how mother nature has changed the snow ground into a magnificent field of flowers. Each flower is so unique and so beautiful. Along with that I get welcomed by the bright, and warm rays of the sun smiling right down at me. It’s like a greeting that nature provides everyone around the world. In the morning, I wake up to a soothing tone of birds singing outside my window. Feels like my own concert just right outside! The air is not to cold, but also not to hot, with occasionally a nice refreshing breeze. To me it feels like the perfect weather. Did you know that spring is sometimes known for a symbol of rebirth? Starting everything new, not just me and you, but the flowers, and all the hibernating animals. By far spring is my favorite season, and I hope yours to.

Science Bowl

By: Dhruv

   The National Science Bowl (NSB) created by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 1991, is a highly competitive science academic event which students, particularly higher achieving middle schoolers and high schoolers are involved in. Science Bowl consists of many science and mathematical problems which students study often to be prepared and to solve the equations. Schools from all around the world participate in this event, and from each school in tournaments, 5 dedicated students, one dedicated alternate student, and dedicated coach(s) will be participating in the tournament. The group of students do certain math and science activities which they can achieve fame and prizes in, like shown in the picture above. There are 2 different teams, the academic team (a team that solves problems), and the car team (a team that builds cars to compete). 8-10 people are in the academic team, and 4-6 people are in the car team. The scholars also travel to many different places to play in the different tournaments. Aaroh, a student in Science Bowl, says, “To practice for upcoming competitions, we study sets of problems to understand the concept better.” Students in Science Bowl practice twice a week for about an hour each practice, which the members are expected to attend to. He also says, “Science Bowl is like science jeopardy, but harder.” They have to use buzzers to answer questions instead of having a plain old written test. Science Bowl also designs and builds a model car to race against other schools within our region. Currently, according to research by recent studies, it is proven that by the beginning of 2019 for Science Bowl, there will be 9,000 high school students and 4,500 middle school students, which is a huge amount of people. Daniel Wright’s team is amazing, and we should root for them. They are the former regional championship champions. Good luck and GO DW!!

If you want to learn more about this topic (Science Bowl), you can visit the following websites to explore and learn more facts about it:

https://d103.learning.powerschool.com/kperri/extracurricularactivities/cms_page/view/32709896

   and

https://science.energy.gov/wdts/nsb

Show Choir

By Ruina & Ritaja

       Show choir is a place for people who have a passion for both singing and dancing. We have asked both a student and a teacher – Mr. Clark, of course— questions about what they do in show choir, what they are planning to do, and the differences between show choir and chorus. In show choir, they perform outside of school and sing a lot of songs. The last time they performed, they did it at two senior homes: Sedgebrook and Harbor Chase. During the time when we were asking them these questions, they were singing Let it Snow, Santa Baby, Walking in a Winter Wonderland, Sleigh Ride, Feliz Navidad, and Happy Hanukkah.

Mr. Clark

       In the future, they are going to sing an entire selection of songs called “Songs of a Disney Hero”, songs by Pinkzebra, and songs by Pentatonix. They also plan to compete against other schools in March, where they will sing for the judges to give them critique and feedback.

       According to both Mr. Clark and Cheryl, show choir has more than only one or two difference from chorus. For one, in show choir, they compete against other schools. In chorus, they perform in school, not outside of school, and there are no competitions. Also, everyone can join chorus if they want to, but show choir is a selected group who have to get accepted through an audition. Another difference is that in show choir, they include choreography and dancing. In chorus, even though they sing with expression, they have no choreographed movements. The last main difference is that in chorus, they focus on the more classical, folk, and world music, whereas in show choir, they pay attention to what is more pop— and a cappella— oriented music.

        But if you like to sing and dance, you should go to show choir to improve your voice. Even if you think you might not make it into show choir, if you really do like or love to sing and dance, then next year, you should go try out and see for yourself. I would take Cheryl’s word and audition for show choir.